The Queen With One Hundred
Lovers

An Aztec Folktale

WhenAxaiacatzin, King of Mexico, and other lords
sent their daughters to King Nezahualpilli, for him to choose one to
be his queen and lawful wife, whose son might succeed to the
inheritance, she who had the highest claims among them, for nobility
of birth and rank, was Chachiuhnenetzin, the young daughter of the
Mexican King. She had been brought up by the monarch in a seperate
palace, with great pomp, and with numerous attendants, as became the
daughter of so great a monarch. The number of sevants attached to her
household exceeded two thousand. Young as she was, she was
exceedingly artful and vicious; so that, finding herslf alone, and
seeing that her people feared her on account of her rank and
importance, she began to give way to an unlimited indulgence of her
power. Whenever she saw a young man who pleased her fancy she gave
secret orders that he should be brought to her, and shortly
afterwards he would be put to death. She would then order a statue or
effigy of his person to be made, and, adourning it with rich
clothing, gold, and jewellry, place it in the apartment in which she
lived. The number of staues of those whom she thus sacrificed was so
great as to almost fill the room. When the king came to visit her,
and inquired respecting these statues, she answered that they were
her gods; and he, knowing how strict the Mexicans were in the worship
of their false dieties, believed her. But, as no inquity can be long
committed with entire secrecy, she was finally found out in the
manner: Three of the young men, for some reason or other, she had
left alive. Their names were Chicuhcoatl, Huitzilimitzin, and Maxtla,
one of whom was lord ofTesoyucan and one of the grandees of the
kingdom, and the other two nobles of high rank.

It happened that one day the king recognized on the
apparel of one of these a very precious jewel which he had given to
the queen; and although he had no fear of treason on her part it gave
him some uneasiness. Proceeding to visit her that night, her
attendants told him she was asleep, supposing that the king would
then return, as he had done at other times. But the affair of the
jewel made him insist on entering the chamber in which she slept;
and, going to wake her, he found only a statue in the bed, adorned
with her hair, and closely resembling her. Seeing this, and noticing
that the attendants around were in much trepidation and alarm, the
king called his guards, and, assembling all the people of the house,
made a general search for the queen, who was shortly found at an
entertainment with the three young lords, who were arrested with her.
The king referred the case to the judges of his court, in order that
they might make an inquiry into the matter and examine the parties
implicated. These discovered many individuals, servants of the queen,
who had in some way or other been accessory to her crimes - workmen
who had been engaged in making and adorning the statues, others who
had aided in introducing the young men into the palace, and others,
again, who had put them to death and concealed their bodies.

The case having been sufficiently investigated, the
king dipatched ambassadors to the rulers of Mexico and Tlacopan,
giving them information of the event, and signifying the day on which
the punishment of the queen and her accomplices was to take place;
and he likewise sent through the empire to summon all the lords to
bring their wives and their daughters, however young they might be,
to be witnesses of a punishment which he designed for a great
example. He also made a truce with all the enemies of the empire, in
order that they might come freely to see it. The time having arrived,
the number of people gathered together was so greatt that, large as
was the city of Tezuco, they could scarcely all find room in it. The
execution took place publicly, in sight of the whole city. The queen
was put to the garrotte, as well as her three gallants; and, from
their being persons of high birth, their bodies were burned, together
with the effigies before mentioned. The other parties who had been
accessory to the crimes, who numbered more than two thousand persons,
were also put to the garrotte, nad burned in a pit made for the
purpose in a ravine near a temple of the Idol of Adulterers. All
applauded so severe and exemplary a punishment, except the Mexican
lords, the relatives of the queen, who were much incensed at so
public an example, and, although for the time they concealed their
resentment, meditated future revenge. It was not without reason, says
the chronicler, that the king experienced this disgrace in his
household, since he was thus punished for an unworthy subterfuge amde
use of by his father to obtain his mother as a wife!

Taken from Spence p129.

The Queen With One Hundred Lovers is tale is about an Aztec
king who puts his wife to death for her infidelity, thus bringing
disgrace to his household. At the end we find that this disgrace was
due because his father had tricked his mother into marrying him. The
tale revolves around the royal family, common in Aztec myths. The
sacrifices to the idol and the invitations to witness the executions
may have served to instill values in the Aztec society through fear.
This tale is an example of Aztec folklore, it teaches a lesson, in a
uniquely Aztec way, incorporating themes of sacrifice and royalty.